DEERFIELD, Ill. — The Chicago Sky would prefer to talk about basketball right now.
They made that clear on Tuesday, their first practice following allegations of racist comments directed at Angel Reese during the team’s season opener in Indiana.
After a Sunday statement from the WNBA — which declared that racism “has no place in our society” — and similar ones from the Sky and Fever supporting the league’s investigation, Angel Reese and head coach Tyler Marsh addressed the media for the first time on Tuesday.
Before speaking, they huddled with senior executives and members of the PR staff.
“There’s no place in this league for that,” Reese said when asked about the allegations of hate speech. “The WNBA and our team and our organization has done a great job supporting me.”
Marsh echoed the league’s messaging — “no space for hate” — and said he learned of the incident “the same time everyone else did.” Reese did not clarify when she became aware of the comments, and a Sky staffer shut down follow-up questions.
The desire to just talk hoops is understandable. But avoiding the topic of hate speech won’t end the conversation. Especially not when there’s a league-wide pattern. And not when Reese has long been a target.
She’s dealt with harassment for years, dating back to her high school playing days. It intensified after the 2023 national championship game, when LSU beat Iowa and Reese taunted Caitlin Clark. Reese has been cast as a villain ever since.
And she’s not alone.
Across the WNBA, players have spoken out about an influx of racist and misogynistic rhetoric, both in person and online. Last season someone used racist language toward Sky players as they got off the team bus in Washington.
“It could happen to anyone,” Reese said Tuesday, reflecting on the allegations of hate speech.
In their exit interviews last season, Sky players Dana Evans and Isabelle Harrison spoke candidly about online harassment — including death threats — from their own fanbase. Evans, who played for the Sky for three seasons, said fans had always been passionate, but “this time is different.” Commentary turned nasty as the league grew in 2024.
“A lot of the times it came from a place that I didn’t quite understand,” Harrison added. “I understand basketball. I understand people have opinions. But a lot of the time, it came with unprovoked hate.”
Those experiences prompted the team to change how they use social media this year, Sky guard Rachel Banham told The Next on Tuesday.
“Before we started the season, we said, as a group, ‘Hey — don’t look at your mentions after games. Don’t look at comments under posts. Because you’re gonna see stuff. Just don’t put yourself in that position.’”
As the league’s cultural relevance surges, that kind of advice has become a sad necessity. With 2.7 million viewers, this season’s opener between the Sky and Fever was the most-watched regular season game ever on ESPN.
The league, for its part, launched a campaign called “No Space for Hate” aimed at protecting players, preserving the spirit of the game and affirming the league’s values.
Its first stated pillar is an AI-powered monitoring system for social media, designed to tag hateful messages and protect players from abuse. But when asked whether the tool had rolled out to players, Banham said she’d never heard of it.
In other words: league-level statements haven’t yet translated into real protections. And whether the Sky — or the WNBA more broadly — have the resources to confront the wave of hate that’s followed their rise remains a difficult question.
Sky have their hands full on the court too
On the court, the Sky have their hands full.
Tuesday’s practice had an all-hands-on-deck feel, with principal owner Michael Alter and minority investor Dwyane Wade both in attendance.
Marsh’s head coaching debut against the Fever failed to validate his vision of a more modern offense. The team struggled to crack 60 points and missed 21 3-point attempts.
Asked for her takeaway on the game, Banham said simply: “Ugh.”
She pointed to poor spacing, pace and transition defense, all issues Marsh had stressed in the preseason. Marsh told reporters that improving communication was a focus in film sessions and practice.
But he wouldn’t blame the schedule, even with the defending champion New York Liberty looming on Thursday.
“There’s no cakewalks in this league,” he said.
Not on the court — and not off it, either.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
